Sunday, October 11, 2009

Ten DS Games That Should Be Made Into Movies

Video game movies have been growing in popularity for years. Everything from classic console games to recent PC hits like World of Warcraft has been getting a film adaptation. However, the Nintendo DS has been sadly neglected when it comes to the movie department. We happen to think that this handheld has some games that would make great movies- here are 10 of them.

10. Dementium: The Ward

The Silent Hill film didn't turn out as well as many fans had hoped, but the less beloved Dementium might be able to pull off the horror game to horror movie transition. Its tale of a man trapped in a hospital frozen in time seems tailor-made from the big screen, and a live-action film could do more to create a sense of atmosphere than the two small DS screens can. Dementium even has a sequel in the works, providing filmmakers with source material for a part two if the movie is a hit.

9. Lost in Blue

The tale of a boy and girl stranded together on an island is one part Blue Lagoon with a little bit of Lost-esque mystery thrown into the mix. The firmly PG plot of the game makes it a natural fit for the tween set, and main characters Keith and Skye could easily be casted with the Disney Channel's flavors of the month. The myriad of endings leaves studios with plenty of options if the film isn't testing well, or just some nice special features for DVD and Blu-Ray release.

8. The Professor Layton Series

While only two-thirds of the Professor Layton trilogy have hit shelves at the time of my writing this, I think it'd safe to say that the adventures of Hershel Layton and his assistant Luke would make a wonderful movie. A studio like Pixar could beautifully recreate places like St. Mystere, and they could perfectly capture the game's cast of characters. If the upcoming Sherlock Holmes film is a hit, mystery stories like Professor Layton could become a hot commodity.

7. The Trauma Center Series

Shows about doctors are all the rage on television screens, and films about superheroes are box office gold as of late. Surely this tale of a superpowered doctor fighting a mysterious man-made illness is the perfect way to bring the two genres together. The experience of playing Trauma Center wouldn't be easy to recapture, and yes, the story can get pretty kooky, but watching Derek Stiles do battle with disease would still make for one exciting movie.

6. Scurge: Hive

Scurge may not be as well known a game as most of the others on this list, but the game's plot reads like it's already a film synopsis. In Scurge, a female bounty hunter is in a race against the clock against a deadly parasitic lifeform called Scurge, doing her best to hunt down the entity before the disease claims her life. Watching Jenosa do battle in her Scurge-resistant suit would make for a thrilling movie, and the game's ending seems like exactly the sort of thing Hollywood likes to do these days.

5. The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass

Fans have been clamoring for a Zelda movie for years, and this Wind Waker sequel might be the perfect game to do it with. Unlike its much maligned predecessor, Phantom Hourglass well received by gamers, and the game's signature style would make for one beautiful animated movie. Just imagine the game's opening cinematic playing on the big screen at your movie theater! As an added bonus, the game is short enough to make it easy to adapt without cutting much story.

4. Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Although it might be hard to capture Hotel Dusk's unique visual style in a live action adaptation, the point and click adventure's story would make a perfect film. Hotel Dusk has occasionally been criticized for involving more reading than actual gameplay, and the tale of a cop turned salesman's mysterious stay in a hotel packed full with wonderfully written characters may even be more fun to watch than it was to play- especially if Kyle is well cast.

3. Elite Beat Agents

Yes, you read that right. Sure, Elite Beat Agents already borders on ridiculousness, but the musical is supposedly back, and what better way to take advantage of that then with a movie about agents who save the world through song and dance (and look good while doing it). As long as the film version has the same sense of humor as the game, we'll be happily tapping our toes in the audience on the day this film comes out.

2. The World Ends With You

While the unique gameplay of this Square-Enix title wouldn't be easy to recapture, the beautiful story of the dead trying to prove that their city is worth saving would make for an amazing film. We know that Hollywood would probably change the game's setting of Shibuya into New York, and that most of the characters would probably be given names that sound suitably American, but this is our list, and we can dream of a pitch perfect adaptation.

1. The Phoenix Wright Series

The Phoenix Wright series are commonly known as "those goofy lawyer games", and are famous for their OBJECTIONS! and TAKE THATS!, but gamers who have played through all of them know that beneath their silly exterior lies an amazing story. If the games were given a chance, the twist and turns of this courtroom drama would easily captivate movie audiences. Sure, there's probably no man on Earth awesome enough to play Godot, but we don't care. We want a Phoenix Wright movie!